The youngest basic oceanic magmatism in the Alps (Late Cretaceous

Cathodoluminescence-controlled radiometric dating (U-Pb SHRIMP) was carried out on zircon domains from metabasic rocks of the Chiavenna unit, a major mafic/ultramafic-bearing unit in the Central Alps. Co-magmatic zircon domains from amphibolites near Chiavenna and Prata areas yielded weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages at 93.0±2.0 and 93.9±1.8Ma, respectively, interpreted as the age of crystallization of the magmatic protoliths. These ages fit well with the time of late spreading in the Valais Ocean, as suggested by previous paleogeographic reconstructions. Inherited zircon grains and/or core domains (Permo-Triassic, Carboniferous, Proterozoic) are abundant, indicating proximity of the Chiavenna unit to thinned continental crust. This is in line with the origin of this unit from subcontinental mantle sources, as suggested previously on petrological and structural grounds. Metamorphic zircon domains from one amphibolite near Chiavenna yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age at 37.1±0.9Ma, identical to the 38.5±0.9 Ma SHRIMP age of an amphibolitized eclogite of the Antrona ophiolites (Valais domain, Western Alps). Precise metamorphic ages were difficult to obtain from the composite (poly)metamorphic rim domains of the Prata amphibolite. This is attributed to the location of the Prata area close to the granulite-facies Gruf unit (metamorphosed at ca. 33Ma) and to the 24-25 Ma old Novate granite, where metamorphic/fluid events probably caused multiple resetting to various degrees. The ca. 93 Ma old magmatism, identified for the first time in the Chiavenna unit, is the youngest basic oceanic magmatism reported in the Alps. The 37.1±0.9 Ma old metamorphism in the Chiavenna unit, attributed to the Valais domain, confirms the model suggesting stepwise younging of metamorphic ages from the south (Adriatic plate) to the north (European plate). It is older than metamorphism in the European margin (ca. 35-31Ma) lying to the north of the Valais domain and younger than that in the Piemont-Ligurian Ocean (ca. 44-45Ma) lying to the south of the Valais domai

The population of deformed bands in 48^{48}Cr by emission of 8^{8}Be from the 32^{32}S + 24^{24}Mg reaction

Using particle-$\gamma$ coincidences we have studied the population of final states after the emission of 2 $\alpha$-particles and of $^{8}$Be in nuclei formed in $^{32}$S+$^{24}$Mg reactions at an energy of $\textrm{E}_{\rm L}(^{32}\textrm{S}) = 130 {\rm MeV}$. The data were obtained in a setup consisting of the GASP $\gamma$-ray detection array and the multidetector array ISIS. Particle identification is obtained from the $\Delta$E and E signals of the ISIS silicon detector telescopes, the $^{8}$Be being identified by the instantaneous pile up of the $\Delta$E and E pulses. $\gamma$-ray decays of the $^{48}$Cr nucleus are identified with coincidences set on 2 $\alpha$-particles and on $^{8}$Be. Some transitions of the side-band with $K^\pi=4^{-}$ show stronger population for $^{8}$Be emission relative to that of 2 $\alpha$-particles (by a factor $1.5-1.8$). This observation is interpreted as due to an enhanced emission of $^{8}$Be into a more deformed nucleus. Calculations based on the extended Hauser-Feshbach compound decay formalism confirm this observation quantitatively.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures accepted for publication in J. Phys.

Evaluation of distribution models for household water treatment products in Kenya

Marketing trials for ceramic filters and other HWTS products were carried out in Kenya over 16 months. Community education trainings and sales models were set up at four different sites with local entrepreneurs, Community Health Workers of the Public Health system, Community-based Organizations and staff of NGOs. Selling filters through the water utility, a community-based enterprise, was the most successful retail model, followed by sales done by Community Health Workers. Evidence showed that community-based organizations need to be equipped with adequate management and marketing skills to successfully sell products. Community education through household visits (independent of the stakeholder carrying out the activity) was an effective marketing strategy. Emotional attributes, social norms, if people think it is important to treat the water and education level had the highest influence on the frequency of household water treatment in households

The extrasolar planet Gliese 581 d: a potentially habitable planet? (Corrigendum to arXiv:1009.5814)

We report here that the equation for H2O Rayleigh scattering was incorrectly stated in the original paper [arXiv:1009.5814]. Instead of a quadratic dependence on refractivity r, we accidentally quoted an r^4 dependence. Since the correct form of the equation was implemented into the model, scientific results are not affected.Comment: accepted to Astronomy&Astrophysic

ESTIMATING THE SUBJECT BY TREATMENT INTERACTION IN NON-REPLICATED CROSSOVER DIET STUDIES

Researchers in human nutrition commonly refer to the ‘consistent’ diet effect (i.e. the main effect of diet) and an ‘inconsistent’ diet effect (i.e. a subject by diet interaction). However, due to the non-replicated designs of most studies, one can only estimate the first part using ANOVA; the latter (interaction) is confounded with the residual noise. In many diet studies, it appears that subjects do respond differently to the same diet, so the subject by diet interaction may be large. In a search of over 40,000 published human nutrition studies, most using a crossover design, we found that in none was a subject by diet interaction effect estimated. For this paper, we examined LDL-cholesterol data from a non-replicated crossover study with four diets, the typical American diet, with and without added plant sterols, and a cholesterol-lowering Step-1 diet, with and without sterols. We also examined LDL-cholesterol data from a second crossover study with some replications with three diets, representing the daily supplement of 0, 1 or 2 servings of pistachio nuts. These two data sets were chosen because experience suggested that LDLcholesterol responses to diet tend to be subject-specific. The second data set, with some replication, allowed us to estimate the subject by diet interaction term in a traditional ANOVA framework. One approach to estimating an interaction effect in non-replicated studies is through the use of a multiplicative decomposition of the interaction (sometimes called AMMI―additive main effects, multiplicative interaction). In this type of analysis, residuals, formed after estimated main effects are subtracted from the data, are arrayed in a matrix with diets as columns and subjects as rows. A singular value decomposition of the matrix is performed and the first, or first and second, principal component(s) are used as estimates of the interaction, and can be tested for significance using approximate F-tests. Using the R gnm package, we found large and significant subject by diet interaction effects in both data sets; estimates of the interaction in the second data set were similar to interaction estimates from traditional ANOVA. Of an additional 26 dependent variables from the first and a third data set (the latter investigating the effect of mild alcohol consumption on blood variables), 19 had significant subject by diet interactions, based on the AMMI methodology. These results suggest that the subject by diet interaction is often important and should not be ignored when analyzing data obtained from non-replicated crossover designs―the AMMI methodology works well and is readily available in statistical software packages

Magnons in real materials from density-functional theory

We present an implementation of the adiabatic spin-wave dynamics of Niu and Kleinman. This technique allows to decouple the spin and charge excitations of a many-electron system using a generalization of the adiabatic approximation. The only input for the spin-wave equations of motion are the energies and Berry curvatures of many-electron states describing frozen spin spirals. The latter are computed using a newly developed technique based on constrained density-functional theory, within the local spin density approximation and the pseudo-potential plane-wave method. Calculations for iron show an excellent agreement with experiments.Comment: 1 LaTeX file and 1 postscript figur

Análise e melhoria de processo do Serviço de Atendimento ao Cidadão (SAC) da Embrapa Florestas.

bitstream/CNPF-2009-09/42630/1/Doc156.pdf1 CD-RO

Addressing post-harvest losses during traditional banana fermentation for increased food security in Southwest Uganda

Postharvest losses (PHL) destroy 20-60% of the food production in East Africa, exacerbating already severe regional food insecurity. Fermenting perishable foods such as fruits may reduce PHL while providing nutritional enrichment, improving shelf-life and food quality, and addressing seasonality in food supply. Fermented banana products have been refined and diversified in Uganda over generations to make the greatest use of available food resources, but still parts of the raw material are being lost during processing. This study aimed at exploring existing traditional methods and efficiency of fermentation of Musa (AAA-EAHB) 'Mbidde' in southwestern Uganda. The study gathered information through participatory explorations (working with brewers) on banana juice (lightly fermented beer with <1% alcohol content [n=20 brewers]), tonto (turbid beer with ~4% alcohol [n=20]), and amarwa (smoky spirit with ~ 40% alcohol [n=20]). Brewers mentioned several losses of material during harvest and processing. Harvesting bananas requires felling the plant causing ripe fruit damage, particularly during harvest for processing banana juice (loss from fresh bananas=6.4%±8.8%) or amarwa (loss=9.3%±9.5%). Second, losses occur when brewers squeeze juice from the raw banana pulp using stems of Imperata cylindrica, which is then discarded or fed to animals together with the adherent fruit pulp (losses from raw banana juice=50.6%±0.2%; from tonto 39.2%±21.4% and amarwa 47.6%±12.5%). Other causes of PHL during processing are excessive peeling for tonto processing (loss of banana flesh=18.6%±5.8%) and losses of intermediate products during distillation of amarwa (loss=75.9%±1.3%). Total losses of banana products during processing were rare and caused by sabotage (mostly by children), mistakes in the brewing process (e.g. addition of too much water), using bananas of wrong ripening stage, and equipment failure (e.g., burst or leaking drums in distillation equipment). Other non-PHL challenges include Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) and bad weather (up to 50% losses in the field). Despite the general efficiency of traditional fermentation practices, significant portions of fruit are still lost. Reduction in PHL can complement, both culturally and nutritionally, the role that fermented banana products play in Ugandan food systems and contribute to regional food security. Collaborative mechanisms for PHL reduction should target the cited sources of PHL